Shots - Health News

12:56 pm

Thu July 23, 2015

There's a battle brewing behind the scenes to keep health plans affordable for consumers. The Obama administration weighed in this week, sending letters to insurance regulators in every state and Washington, D.C., that ask them to take a closer look at rate requests before granting them.

Under the Affordable Care Act, state agencies largely retain the right to regulate premiums. So far only a handful have finalized premiums for the coming year, for which enrollment begins in November.

10:19 am

Thu July 23, 2015

Anyone who's fought cancer knows that it's not just scary, but pricey, too.

"A lot of my patients cry โ they're frustrated," says Dr. Ayalew Tefferi, a hematologist at the Mayo Clinic. "Many of them spend their life savings on cancer drugs and end up being bankrupt."

The average U.S. family makes $52,000 annually. Cancer drugs can easily cost a $120,000 a year. Out-of-pocket expenses for the insured can run $25,000 to $30,000 โ more than half of a typical family's income.

In a development that comes after a German firm was reportedly close to reaching a deal to buy the Financial Times Group from the Pearson publishing company, the Financial Times will instead be bought by Japanese media company Nikkei, for 844 million pounds ($1.3 billion) in cash.

Earlier Thursday, the Financial Times itself had reported that the newspaper's publisher was on the verge of being sold to German media group Alex Springer. Other reports had suggested that Bloomberg or Thomson Reuters were potential buyers.

Greek lawmakers have approved a set of overhauls that were the last obstacles standing between Athens and a desperately needed 86 billion euro line of credit, which is being fronted by creditors along with a demand for domestic reforms.

The latest measures include a restructuring of the banking and judicial systems, passed easily (230-63 with five abstentions) despite thousands of anti-austerity protesters demonstrating loudly outside the Parliament building.

There aren't a lot of obscure government board meetings that warrant a watch party, let alone one with a marching band.

But that's how fast-food restaurant workers and their supporters celebrated Wednesday on a blocked-off street in Manhattan, as they watched a state panel recommend a $6.25 increase in their hourly wage, to $15.

If the nuclear deal with Iran is implemented, Tehran stands to gain a lot of money. There are differing estimates of exactly how much: The U.S. Treasury Department has said something on the order of $100 billion is in blocked overseas Iranian accounts, while Iran's Central Bank governor puts the figure closer to $29 billion.

Whatever the exact amount, critics like Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham say that kind of cash will allow Tehran to make bad situations in the Middle East even worse.

The Two-Way

5:26 pm

Wed July 22, 2015

Demonstrators rally before a meeting of a state wage board in New York. On Wednesday, a state panel recommended the minimum wage for fast-food employees be raised to $15 an hour, bypassing the state Legislature.

Strolling through the annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists the other day, I saw several signs offering to solve an urgent problem American bakers face. The signs advertised "egg replacement."

The Salt

11:23 am

Wed July 22, 2015

The next time you pop a Popsicle in your mouth, think about this: You're enjoying the fruits of an 11-year-old entrepreneur's labor.

Back in 1905, a San Francisco Bay Area kid by the name of Frank Epperson accidentally invented the summertime treat. He had mixed some sugary soda powder with water and left it out overnight. It was a cold night, and the mixture froze. In the morning, Epperson devoured the icy concoction, licking it off the wooden stirrer. He declared it an Epsicle, a portmanteau of icicle and his name, and started selling the treat around his neighborhood.

Sweetness And Light

2:57 am

Wed July 22, 2015

Kelly Hirano, vice president of engineering, demonstrates the Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy contest during a product launch in July in San Francisco. Yahoo has designed this experience for the mobile fantasy player and offers Daily Fantasy, Full Season Fantasy, and real-time sports news and scores as an all-in-one experience.

In the famous Disney movie, a carpenter named Geppetto longed to have a son. He carved a puppet of a boy, and, wouldn't you know it, the wooden Pinocchio magically became a real child. Fantasy games are the Pinocchio of sport, for all who play them become Geppettos. Isn't it the dream of every fan to construct his or her own team, as Geppetto wanted to carve out a son?

Five years ago Tuesday, President Obama signed into law the massive overhaul of U.S. financial regulations called Dodd-Frank. But there's still a battle over whether the law has helped stabilize the financial system or whether it has harmed the economy and should be rolled back.

Parallels

2:54 pm

Tue July 21, 2015

American tourists, like these visitors taking a guided tour in May, still have to provide one of 12 authorized reasons โ such as visiting family or engaging in humanitarian work โ for travel to Cuba.

The U.S. and Cuba have restored diplomatic relations and reopened their embassies โ but it's not yet open season for American tourists hoping to visit the island. The U.S. embargo on travel and business means you still have to have a valid reason to go โ and that doesn't include sitting on the beach and drinking mojitos.

Andy Greenberg was minding his own business, driving a Jeep Cherokee on the highway in St. Louis when the SUV's air vents suddenly started blasting cold air. Then the radio switched stations and began blaring hip-hop at full volume. Spinning the radio control knobs did nothing. Soon, the windshield wipers turned on and wiper fluid obscured Greenberg's view.

About 7.5 million Americans paid an average penalty of $200 for not having health insurance in 2014 โ the first year most Americans were required to have coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.

By contrast, taxpayers filing three-quarters of the 102 million returns received by the IRS so far this year checked a box indicating they had qualifying insurance coverage all year.

The Salt

8:59 am

Tue July 21, 2015

Christopher Day, the dining room manager at Eleven Madison Park, is also the man behind its tea program. "My goal has always been to put together a tea list with the same standard and rigor as you would with wine," he says.

Even those of us who can't tell the difference between a pinot noir and a merlot are probably familiar with the basic rule of wine pairing: white wine with fish and red wine with steak. But when it comes to tea pairings, we're stumped.

Yet it turns out there is an art to unlocking new flavors in your food by pairing it with tea. Sipping oolong with a buttery, citrusy madeleine can highlight the flowery and milky notes of the tea, while a hot cup of green tea melts the texture of goat cheese and enhances its creamy notes.

Shots - Health News

3:15 am

Tue July 21, 2015

One of the first signs drivers see on the way into Unionville, Mo. is this billboard advertising cardiology at Putnam County Memorial Hospital. Offering specialty services, like cardiology and psychiatry turned the hospital around, community leaders say.

Business

1:33 am

Tue July 21, 2015

Zappos.com tour guide Erika Newman (right) shows off the ball pit in the human resources department of the company's Las Vegas headquarters. Zappos eliminated managers and embraced a system of self-governance known as holacracy.

Jacqui Gonzalez once spent an hour and a half on the phone helping a customer. The Zappos.com employee enjoys being generous with the online shoe retailer's money, sending gift baskets and thank-you cards to people whose complaints she has solved.

And mostly, she's grateful that she doesn't have a manager to consult in making those decisions.

"We don't have to put someone on hold and ask permission," says the former customer service agent, who is now a tour guide at the company. "We don't have a manager that you need to be transferred to. How refreshing is that?"